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(ABFLM0PRSTU)4 = …
... = F + MP3 + TAB + URL + USB + 404
F is for function (F1 key, F 11 key etc. on your computer keyboard)
MP3 is for Motion Picture [experts group 1 Audio-layer] 3, a system enabling (audio-)files to be compressed to 10% of their original size.
TAB was originally the tab[ulation] key used to indent paragraphs ; to tabulate means to arrange data in a systematic form.
URL is an acronym for uniform resource locator (an electrical thumbprint* for addresses); uniform because they are all in the form: { access protocol (http:// + domain + .com }
USB, the standard connection socket, is a acronym too : universal serial bus.
Don’t forget the dongle : originally a spyware device, it now refers to any electronic key.
Techies’ words can sometimes be figures : a 404 message reads 4 (error on the client’s side) + 0 (error in general syntax) + 4 (error on the computer side). Maybe that’s why in tech slang, a 404 is someone inept (“un vrai nul”) !
But sometimes a mistake in writing numbers can create a huge trademark : a mistake in typing Googol (for mathematicians, the number name of 1 followed by a hundred zeros) gave birth to the world’s most famous search engine.
Why not shorten brand names ? If “sky peer to peer” is too long, you reduce it to Skype ; same for “Echo bay technology group” which became e-bay …
Letters for techies, words for others …
*Thumbprint : empreinte digitale (du pouce).
Tags: acronyms, hi-tech slang, electronics
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